Friday, April 07, 2017

Five of the greatest second novels ever written

Another example of building on a theme. Haldeman’s first book, War Year, is a Vietnam tale, drawing on Haldeman’s experiences in that war. With his followup, he took those same experiences and set them in space.

Removed from the real-world political baggage of a very recent, very painful conflict, Haldeman’s second book used sci-fi as a metaphor. A quirk of light-speed travel means that, despite feeling like they’ve been away for a matter of months, centuries have passed for a group of returning soldiers. The world has changed, just as the world seemed very different to returning Vietnam veterans. By setting a familiar conflict in an unfamiliar setting, Haldeman made his readers experience the horrors of conflict afresh.